Costs Report: How much Ireland pays to host foreign delegations

A HOTEL suite costing €600-per-night, limousines that cost up to €400 an hour, and private performances of Ulysses and traditional music were among the costs billed to the taxpayer to entertain visiting foreign politicians.

Details of seven ‘bi-lateral’ trips over the last eighteen months reveal no expense was spared in hosting visiting delegations to Ireland with swish hotels, swanky restaurants, and day-trips all organised.

The costs are all footed by the Oireachtas but in return, Irish TDs and Senators get their hotel, dining, and entertainment bills paid when the inevitable return visit takes place.

Last November for the visit of a delegation from Hungary, the Oireachtas paid out €600 per night for luxury accommodation for the speaker of the National Assembly Laszlo Kover.

His three night personal bill of €1,800 was part of a €4,410 bill for four Hungarian politicians to stay at the Merrion Hotel in Dublin’s city centre.

Another €1,744 had been spent on platinum services at Dublin Airport for the eight-strong Hungarian delegation along with €5,126 on limousine and minibus transfers.